EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT BY MAHATMA GANDHI
Introduction:
Mahatma
Gandhi’s contribution to the field of education theory and practice is really
outstanding. He has been considered to be a revolutionary educational thinker
of modern India.
Through his educational scheme he wanted to bring about a social revolution in
our country, thereby leading to the creation of a new social order, reflecting
his philosophy of education and life .He is regarded as a practical educational
philosopher and experimenter on education to the core. His educational
philosophy was rightly considered as the dynamic side of his philosophy of life
and his educational system is the dynamic side of his educational thought.
His philosophy of Life:
The political, economic,
education and other ideas of Gandhi are parts of a whole, integrated philosophy
of life. Yet Gandhi was not a philosopher in the accepted sense of the word,
nor has he left behind him a systematic statement of his thought. He was
essentially a man of action and it was through the adventure of living, his
experiments with truth, that he came to formulate ideas-that are strewn over
thousand of pages of writings, speeches and correspondence. Some of his philosophical
doctrines are concept of god, truth, morality, non-violence (ahimsa), sathyagraha, labour, economic equality,
citizenship, brotherhood of man etc.,
His philosophy of Education:
The meaning of Education is Education of the
whole man.
Gandhi has synthesized the three important
philosophies, Idealism, Naturalism and Pragmatism. He defined education as an “
all-round drawing out of the best in the child and man-body, mind and spirit”.
His education emphasized both the imminent and eminent goals of life.
Aims of Education:
Gandhi’s concept of education has two fold aims, ultimate and immediate.
Ultimate aim of Education:
Self-realisation is the ultimate aim of life as well as of education. It
is spiritual education which provides knowledge of god and self- realization.
In the words of Gandhi “True education should result not in material power but
in spiritual force”. It must strengthen man’s faith in God and not waken it. He
further adds “Development of the whole-all was directed towards the realization
of the ultimate reality, the merger of the finite being into the infinite”.
Education
for character building:
Character building was the
fundamental enterprise n Gandhi’s ideal school. Development of personality was
more significant than accumulation of intellectual tools and academic
knowledge. Good education is “that which draws out and stimulates the spiritual,
intellectual and physical faculties of children”. His concept of personality
was based on the ideal man of the Gita who is an integrated personality a sthita prajana or sage of settled
intelligence.
Self supporting aspect of Education:
Gandhi aimed at the
self-supporting aspect of education. He advocated knowledge through work. The
use of craft at all levels and at all stages of education was his concept of
‘karma-yoga’. He wanted to teach children the dignity of labour and to make
them learn to regard. It is an integral part and a means of their intellectual
growth and to make them realize that it was patriotic to, pay for their
training through their labour, his aim was to bridge the gap between education
and life by drawing upon the cultural, social and vocational potentialities of
the students and to make education “life-centered”.
Cultural aim of education:
Gandhi does not ignore the cultural aspect of education. In his words “
I attach far more importance to cultural aspect of education than to the literacy”.
Culture is the foundation, the primary thing which the girls ought to get from
here. Inner culture must reflect in your speech, the way in which you treat
your visitors and behave towards one another and your teacher and class. Thus
Gandhi laid much emphasis on cultural aim of education and recommended that
Gita and Ramayana be taught as a means of introducing students to their rich
cultural and spiritual heritage.
Social and Individual aims of Education:
The aim of
education of Gandhi is both social and individual. He wanted individual
perfection and a new social order based on” Truth” and “non-violence”. We
cannot think of social service and the individual vice versa. Thys according to
Gandhi, the individual and social development are independent.
Fundamental of Basic
Education:
Gandhi designed
pre-basic education for the children under six years of age. At this stage principles
of sanitation hygiene, nutrition, work and helping parents in the home were
emphasized. Basic education is meant for the children under the age group seven
to fourteen and was a seven year plan. Post-basic education was for the
students of age group fourteen and eighteen. It was an extension of the basic
education with greater emphasis on self sufficiency.
Features of Basic Education:
Free and compulsory education:
Gandhi advocated that within the age group 7 to 14, there should be free,
compulsory and universal education. He wanted to combine the primary education
with secondary education and called it, matriculation minus English was his aim
of education.
1. The craft:
The basic education aimed at
providing education through the medium of craft or productive work. The basic
craft which be agriculture or spinning and weaving or card board, wood and
metal work, gardening, leather work.
- Mother Tongue:
Gandhi emphasized mother
tongue to be the medium of instruction and the subject of study. Mother tongue
would enable the children to express themselves effectively and clearly. It can
acquaint the child with his heritage, ethical and moral values.
- Mathematics:
Mathematics was introduced in
the basis system with a few to enable the students to solve numerical and
grammatical problems, connected with craft and community life. In teaching of
mathematics emphasis was laid on practical measuring and field work. Teaching
of mathematics helped the students to develop their reasoning capacities.
- Social studies:
Social studies were a
combination of some subject like history, geography, civics and economics. It
was introduced to enable the students to understand and appreciate their own
culture and also to understand nature and function of family, state and the
nation and their relationship.
- General science:
Nature study, botony,
zoology, chemistry, astronomy, hygiene, culture and knowledge of stars were
included in general science.
- Drawing and music:
Drawing and music included
in the curriculum to develop creativity in boys and girls.
- Hindustani:
Gandhi believed that
Hindustani is the combination of Hindi and Urdu. Therefore, he desired to make
it a compulsory subject in basic school and the Lingua Franca of India.
Gandhi’s
views on teacher:
Gandhi advocates
devotion to the teacher. He says education of the heart could only be done
through the living touch of the teacher. He said It will be very difficult to
achieve character building in the absence to the teacher.
Gandhi’s
views on adult Education:
Gandhi desired that
adult education must touch the life of all the villagers at all the economic,
the hygienic, the social and political. Villagers should acquire some useful
knowledge through the programme of adult education.
Gandhi’s
view on university Education:
Gandhi criticized the
prevailing system of university education in which the students have no
participation. Involvement or activity.
He felt that students in the prevailing system of university education are
dying of boredom and their bottled-up energies are running riot in wrong
channels. The aim of university education and emphasized on originality of full personality and to
make it a creative process.
No comments:
Post a Comment